Rosa Lee Obrey

Rosa Lee loved to grow things in her garden. Each year alongside her husband Jack, they would spend a great deal of time caring for and cultivating many assorted varieties of beautiful Iris’s. She even cross-bred bulbs to create several hybrids which were unique to her collection. Rosa Lee and Jack came to be known in Merced as the “Iris People” as every year they would re-pot their new crop and sell them to the public at nominal prices. We can be sure there are still numerous gardens throughout the county still blooming each spring with the prized flowers they treasured so much.

One of Rosa Lee’s fondest memories was when her and Jack were able to take a trip to Hawaii where they visited three of the islands, fulfilling her lifelong dream. She would talk often of this trip for the rest of her life and it also started a quest for the two of them to collect and wear matching Hawaiian shirts almost every time they left their house together. She also loved to knit and crochet and just a few years ago she became involved in a volunteer organization known as “Threads of Love.” handcrafting very tiny clothing items for infant babies that if not for her and others would not be offered such things. She also lovingly knitted countless Afghans which she lavished on her friends and family. Being quite the cook and baker that she was she would enter her delectable desserts in the Merced County Fair for many years. It was rare that she would receive 2nd place and seemed a bit miffed by the sight of red ribbons.

Rosa Lee was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, Jack Obrey; infant daughter, Valery Obrey; and her parents, Lee and Selma Wright. She leaves behind her children, Russ (Diane) Obrey, Cindy Denno, Scott Obrey all of Merced, and Larry (Anne) Obrey of Atwater; grandchildren, Rosey Obrey, Nathaniel Obrey, Ricky Denno, and Jonathan Denno; brothers, Robert, Jim, and Ron Wright; and sister, Sissy(Pansy) Gnehm.

On Saturday, June 22, 2013 from 12:00pm-5:00pm and Sunday, June 23, 2013 from 12:00pm-4:00pm there will be a visitation held at Stratford Evans Merced Funeral Home, 1490 B St., Merced, CA. Funeral services will be on Monday, June 24, 2013 at 12:30pm at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1080 Yosemite Ave, Merced, CA. with interment to follow at Merced Cemetery at 2:00pm.